Publication - FOI/EIR release

Conditions of funding for The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC): FOI release

Published: 19 April 2023
Directorate: Safer Communities Directorate
Topic: Law and order, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202200326850
Date received: 25 October 2022
Date responded: 18 November 2022

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Information requested

Under FOISA please supply me with information contained in your records as follows:

The full conditions of funding for The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner.
To be clear please supply me with the total amount of funding being provided per financial year to The PIRC and the full conditions of funding for The PIRC.
Please supply me with the conditions of funding, which stipulate what criteria is expected by SG for The PIRC service for the funding awarded to The PIRC to achieve in real terms.
Please also state what professional standards and reporting is required to comply with the conditions of funding, this is to ensure the Scottish Government are provided VfM whilst not cutting back on Quality.

Response

The total amount of funding provided to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner in each financial year is set out below:

Financial Year	Amount of funding provided
2013-2014	£2,307,014
2014-2015	£2,549,406
2015-2016	£3,031,685
2016-2017	£3,129,000
2017-2018	£3,258,000
2018-2019	£4,162,289
2019-2020	£4,394,000
2020-2021	£4,466,000
2021-2022	£5,158,000
2022-2023 (April - October 2022)	£3,199,000

The conditions of funding and reporting requirements are contained within the Budget Allocation and Monitoring letter. The most recent letter and accompanying annexes are attached.

The Budget Allocation and Monitoring letter states that resources must be used in accordance with the Corporate Plan, PIRC’s Framework Document and any relevant guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers, in particular the Scottish Public Finance Manual.

The Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) is issued by the Scottish Ministers to provide guidance to the Scottish Government (SG) and other relevant bodies on the proper handling and reporting of public funds. It sets out the relevant statutory, parliamentary and administrative requirements, emphasises the need for economy, efficiency and effectiveness, and promotes good practice and high standards of propriety. The SPFM is available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-public-finance-manual/

The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner Corporate Plans and the PIRC Governance and Accountability Framework are available on the PIRC website (www.PIRC.Scot)

Under section 25(1) of FOISA – information otherwise accessible. We do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If you do not have access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

Some of the detail within the Budget Allocation and Monitoring letter has been redacted. An exemption under section s.38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This exemption relates to personal data relating to a third party. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.